Friday, June 12, 2009

My last few posts have been about trade not just between the traditional partners like US, UK, France, Canada, Germany, but about them and the emerging markets like Brazil, India, China. I've also made a couple of trips to Delhi and met with institutions like CII and NASSCOM that further such growth from an India perspective. I also came across others like Organization for International Investment (www.ofii.org), a US Think Tank that documents the value added by non-US headquartered firms to the US economy. (They say around 5% of the US workforce is employed by such firms). Great stuff, but I still think there is lots of scope for more forums to promote such trade - a market opportunity, in fact :)

Meantime, I got interviewed by Sean Callahan of US-based B2B magazine on how challenger brands can use new media to enter new markets like India. Here's an excerpt:

ITM: What one thing can a U.S. b-to-b marketer learn from your experience as a marketing executive a Wipro and Infosys?Paul: You should narrow your target audience because in a recession—or in any time—you know who exactly the buyer is likely to be. To give you an example, we rarely advertise. We don’t need reach. We go to media we think reaches our audience, and we’ll pay for a cover wrap and zone it so it only reaches the audience profile we want.

ITM: In your book, you talk about your experience as a “challenger” marketer. What is your marketing advice for companies that are not leaders in their industries?Read complete interview.